recalcitrant
adjective
G. G. Simpson
Did you know?
Long before any human was dubbed "recalcitrant" in English (that first occurred in the 18th century), there were stubborn mules (and horses) kicking back their heels. The ancient Romans noted as much (Pliny the Elder among them), and they had a word for it: recalcitrare, which literally means "to kick back." (Its root calc-, meaning "heel," is also the root of calcaneus, the large bone of the heel in humans.) Certainly Roman citizens in Pliny's time were sometimes willful and hardheaded—as attested by various Latin words meaning "stubborn"—but it wasn't until later that writers of Late Latin applied recalcitrare and its derivative adjective to humans who were stubborn as mules.
Synonyms
- balky
- contrary
- contumacious
- defiant
- disobedient
- froward
- incompliant
- insubordinate
- intractable
- obstreperous
- rebel
- rebellious
- recusant
- refractory
- restive
- ungovernable
- unruly
- untoward
- wayward
- willful
- wilful
Example Sentences
Gina Kolata, New York Times Book Review, 7 Sept. 1997 For anyone who has ever struggled to extract a recalcitrant cork from a bottle … the value of a good corkscrew is a given. Ettagale Blauer, Wine Spectator, 31 Oct. 1996 In November 1891, James Naismith, a 32-year-old Canadian-born instructor at the International Y.M.C.A. Training School in Springfield, was asked to invent an indoor game to help tame the members of a recalcitrant gym class. Scott Ellsworth, New York Times, 29 May 1994 George and I were down in a trench hacking at one particularly recalcitrant oak carcass when a local farmer pulled up in his truck. P. J. O'Rourke, Republican Party Reptile, 1987 You are not the kind of person who beats on recalcitrant vending machines. Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City, 1984 the manager worried that the recalcitrant employee would try to undermine his authority a heart-to-heart talk with the recalcitrant youth revealed that he had a troubled life at home See More Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2022 Waugh was a bit prickly, and got infuriated by little things — like recalcitrant salsa or dribbling Worcestershire. Pat Myers, Washington Post, 14 July 2022 The argument embedded in this passage, however—the importance of maintaining intellectual and analytic composure in the face of emotion, obscurantist belief, public pressure, and recalcitrant tradition—represents our magazine at its best. Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, 11 July 2022 Regan is an 18-year-old distance runner who hasn’t been able to run for three months thanks to a recalcitrant stress fracture. Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 2 July 2022 Congress almost never forces a recalcitrant witness into testifying through prosecution, according to several longtime Washington attorneys familiar with congressional proceedings. Katelyn Polantz, CNN, 14 Oct. 2021 Georgia has been a longtime conservative state in a recalcitrant region once willing to sacrifice all to uphold chattel slavery and American apartheid. Kevin Lee, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2022 The palette is sober, and the filmmaking itself is recalcitrant, in service always of its tremendous story. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 8 July 2022 Coughlin said his firm was asked by Kirk Adams, Ducey’s former chief of staff, to help get recalcitrant lawmakers on board with the budget and the water bill. Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 6 July 2022 See More Word History
Late Latin recalcitrant-, recalcitrans, present participle of recalcitrare to be stubbornly disobedient, from Latin, to kick back, from re- + calcitrare to kick, from calc-, calx heel
1843, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Medical Definition
recalcitrant
adjective
recalcitrant
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- rebellious
- rebel
- stubborn
- defiant
- intractable
- obstreperous
- wayward
- refractory
- disobedient
- unruly
- insubordinate
- balky
- contumacious
- willful
- dogged
- restive
- naughty
- rigid
- contrary
- adamant
- mischievous
- uncooperative
- ungovernable
- dissident
- incompliant
- insurgent
- resistant
- wilful
- recusant
- obdurate
- uncontrollable
- untoward
- froward
- obstinate
- rude
- mutinous
- noncooperative
- monkeying
- wild
- mulish
- bad
- pigheaded
- fractious
- implacable
- unmanageable
- unbending
- pertinacious
- peevish
- hardheaded
- unrelenting
- inflexible
- uncompromising
- negativistic
- immovable
- headstrong
- unyielding
- errant
- misbehaving
- opinionated
- wrongheaded
- ornery
- adamantine
- insolent
- impudent
- disrespectful
- disorderly
- undisciplined
- perverse
- discourteous
- self-willed
- nonconformist
- ungracious
- impertinent
- uncouth
- uncivil
- impolite
- inconsiderate
- unmannerly
- ill-mannered
- monkeyish
- ill-bred
- ill-natured
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- obedient
- docile
- cooperative
- amenable
- compliant
- acquiescent
- tractable
- amiable
- obliging
- submissive
- biddable
- deferential
- conformable
- agreeable
- yielding
- behaved
- polite
- disciplined
- courteous
- respectful
- obsequious
- subservient
- servile
- slavish
- ruly
- proper
- controllable
- well-bred
- decorous
- orderly
- kowtowing
- manageable
- mannerly
- governable
- trainable
Synonyms & Similar Words
- stubborn
- intractable
- wayward
- refractory
- unruly
- rebellious
- unmanageable
- uncontrollable
- headstrong
- intransigent
- ungovernable
- naughty
- willful
- difficult
- obdurate
- wilful
- incontrollable
- obstinate
- mulish
- bullheaded
- pigheaded
- stiff
- incorrigible
- froward
- untoward
- hardheaded
- out of hand
- disobedient
- insubordinate
- undisciplined
- uncontrolled
- rowdy
- irrepressible
- wild
- boisterous
- opinionated
- perverse
- rambunctious
- stiff-necked
- misbehaving
- self-willed
- contrary
- unpunished
- indocile
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- obedient
- tractable
- docile
- controllable
- manageable
- governable
- compliant
- well-behaved
- submissive
- pliable
- receptive
- yielding
- placable
- persuadable
- responsive
- willing
- accepting
- reasonable
- temperate
- trainable
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of recalcitrant are headstrong, intractable, refractory, ungovernable, unruly, and willful. While all these words mean "not submissive to government or control," recalcitrant suggests determined resistance to or defiance of authority.
The words headstrong and recalcitrant can be used in similar contexts, but headstrong suggests self-will impatient of restraint, advice, or suggestion.
While the synonyms intractable and recalcitrant are close in meaning, intractable suggests stubborn resistance to guidance or control.
While in some cases nearly identical to recalcitrant, refractory stresses resistance to attempts to manage or to mold.
Although the words ungovernable and recalcitrant have much in common, ungovernable implies either an escape from control or guidance or a state of being unsubdued and incapable of controlling oneself or being controlled by others.
The words unruly and recalcitrant are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, unruly implies lack of discipline or incapacity for discipline and often connotes waywardness or turbulence of behavior.
The synonyms willful and recalcitrant are sometimes interchangeable, but willful implies an obstinate determination to have one's own way.